Police: Train hit Hyde Park man at 120 m.p.h.

According to the report, Barlatier was hanging with two friends near the benches on the inbound platform when he "unexpectedly" got up and dashed across the tracks nearest the platform onto the center set of tracks:

Barlatier reversed his direction and proceeded back to the platform and was fatally struck while attempting to cross over [the tracks nearest the platform].

The engineer of the inbound train estimated it was doing 120 m.p.h. when it hit Barlatier around 10:30 p.m. Police say the engineer saw Barlatier before the strike and immediately applied the emergency brakes, but at that speed, it took 1.26 miles to stop the train - it came to a halt just past the West Street bridge.

Barlatier's remains were brought to the state medical examiner's office for examination.

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I had no idea the Acela's could go that fast inside of 128. I knew they had to be going at least 60 but with all of the local commuter rail stations it passes through, should they really be going that fast this close to an urban area? When I used to ride it about 8-9 years ago, they never seemed to go faster than the traffic on 95 until we got outside of Providence.

First, there are NO grade crossings until you are past New Haven. However, as was seen in Maine, even a relatively slow train can do catastrophic damage when anything, even an 18 wheeler, wanders onto the tracks.

And as my personal favorite Acella video shows (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvhOac-Sxa4&feature...) there are plenty of audible and visual warnings that a train is about to come through. Although when it comes right down to it everyone should know not to stray anywhere near tracks, for any reason, ever.

There are only 2 things that should be slowing down the Acela: 1) stops at train stations, and 2) sections of track that are not made for the high speed. Otherwise, Acela gets to go fast. It's already far slower than it could be due to the fact that the track is the same track that's always been there and they didn't give it new, straighter right-of-ways between Boston and New York (follows the coast too much).

The ROW conditions there are such that trains can travel safely at a very high speed. Even MBTA trains are rated to travel at 79 MPH on this section of track, and they often do. The point of a grade separated, fenced and relatively straight rail bed is speed. This is one of the only spots in the entire country that's properly designed for such speeds, and if I had my way, we'd have a few thousand more miles at the same specification.

A tragic accident is just that, not an indication of systemic failure.

Unfortunately, the grade separation requirement, whilst a very good idea for many reasons, is probably what is going to prevent a bonafide HSR system from being built in this country because each one is hugely expensive and disruptive.

Every time somebody thinks it is legitimate to blame this accident on high speed, we all need to speak out. I saw you and Ron Newman and a few other folks doing just that, figured I should add my voice.

You're right, though, it's incredibly expensive, and sadly not a major priority to the controlling elites. At least we got something resembling high speed rail in our small corner of the country.

If you're on the tracks, bad things are probably going to happen. Anything short of a crawling, Green Line speed is going to require some serious stopping distance.

We don't tell people to slow down on highways because of pedestrians that might wander onto them. We set the speed limits and determine the safe design speed of the roadway based on the design of the highway and the other vehicles sharing the right of way.

There are 150 MPH sections between Providence and New London, including the section where the Kingston, RI station is located, through which the Acelas pass at full track speed. There are also numerous 120 & 130 MPH sections between there and Washington, DC.

The sections in which the Acela can hit its high speeds are between Route 128 and Providence, Providence to New London, then the speed downgrades between New London and New Haven due to grade crossings. Speed is severely limited between New Haven and New York as MetroNorth owns the tracks, but outside New York 125mph for the Acela is the norm, especially in rural northeast Maryland.

The trip I took last September had me going from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station to Baltimore - a distance of 97 miles - in about 55 minutes, and that was with a stop in Wilmington, DE.

There are warning signs everywhere, and automated, repeated, audible warnings in the stations when trains are approaching.

The train could have been doing 30mph and still not avoided him.

Also: the sound of the Acela passing through Boston is often/usually quieter than the commuter rail trains because the rails and wheels have to be of higher quality/better maintained, and it is electrically propelled, not diesel.

Plain and simple , a good person and friend died on the commuter rail and there is a few people that are saying this like a " death wish" or " play stupid games and get stupid prizes" come on now ... What is wring with you people ? No matter what that was someone's child that mind you didn't do anything such as rape nor hurt anyone. Why be so cold ? He was a great person and should should aeast if anything from another is some respect! Like another that doesn't know the situation not " knows" be atleast thoughtful on that a HUMAN BEING has died and not just say whats the first cold hearted thing that comes to your mind!

My original headline was something like "Man hit by train going 120 mph." The software that comes up with a human-readable (sorta, really more for Google) URL omits certain common words such as "by," "the," "and" etc., so you wind up with man-hit-train...

They're not coy about letting you know a train is coming with signs flashing and announcements blaring for at least a minute. We don't yet know the details of what happened but it would be difficult to imagine someone somehow being caught unawares. There isn't any room for error if you ignore the warnings; the train goes from a speck in the distance to thundering by in seconds.

OK, I meant the written description of the video, not the narration, but still ... doesn't that painted stripe at the platform edge look yellow to you? It even has the words STAND BACK painted behind it.

It's one thing to state facts about the mechanics and functioning of the train, but to pass judgement, critisize, and offer your opinion of the person; not knowing what precipitated the event, is not only insensitive and ignorant, but inhumane. I do not know this man personally, but I wish he would have spoken to someone about how he was feeling, prior to his tragedy.
You cannot tell what someone has gone through, or is going though, based on appearance.
My heart mourns for this man. I pray he is in a better space; mind, body, and soul.

Unreal the amount of false info being posted here. I am not going to correct each one, but here is the bottom line.
Their are plenty of grade crossings on the Corridor. Starting in Westerley RI with the last one just after New London. The fastest speed over them? 80mph. They ALL have lights, bells and gates.
As for maximum speed? Their are stretches of 150mph between RT. 128 and Providence and then Providence and Kenyons RI.
At stations like Attleboro and Kingston, the trains pass through at 150mph.
Their are automated warnings at every station where the Acela passes through at high speed. Every platform (ALL) has a yellow line showing how far to stand back.
Nobody has ever been struck by a train who followed the basic safety precatuions. In this incident, witnesses have said the person who was struck ran in front of the train. So the very idea that their is some sort of safety issue is ridiculous. And whether the train was going 110 or 10 mph, you can still be killed. Speed had nothing to do with this incident.
A grown man made a poor choice and it cost him is life. That is the bottom line. Everybody does something stupid at some point in their life. The hope is that when you make a stupid decision that you learn from that mistake. But it does not always work out that way. The train crew and the persons freinds and family will now live with the horror of this mans poor choice.

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